Embroidery and Storytelling: the stories in the stitches

Let’s start by talking about how you choose an embroidery kit.

I’m betting that before you dig into the practical considerations of embroidery kit price and contents, you’re drawn first to the imagery and color and styling in a design . . .

. . . and how that imagery and color and styling makes you feel

. . . and what it gets you thinking about.

I’ve been surprised to find that many people, upon seeing our Vintage Truck kit, start telling me how they’ll be giving the dog a spot or changing the truck color–because of what this imagery means in their own life.

We are each drawn to imagery that resonates with our experiences . . . and with our aspirations. We are drawn to stories we want to stitch.

As I stitched Catnap, I remembered time with my Grandma Hodge and the cats she pampered. I also thought about quilts and my Aunt Pat who made the quilt on my bed. And I thought of a dear friend who was quilting her way through significant life changes at the same time I was comfortably engrossed in my embroidery.

See how that goes? Memories are triggered by image and color, and stitching gives you the time to explore those memories.

It isn’t just stories of times past that you spend time with as you stitch. The essence of the design in No Place Like Home is that it prompts you to think not only of home but of faraway lands–of mountains and cities that are just out of reach at the moment. It prompts you to think of both the familiar and the new. And the new gets you venturing into future territory.

Just who is flying that banner with hearts over the house? Each of us will have our own story about that. As I stitched this design, I thought of the cruise our family skipped because of the pandemic and imagined when we might travel together again.

The people and places and situations in your life right now become a part of the piece you are stitching. You run the needle down through the fabric. You pull it back up. And you cannot help but find the worries and pleasures and questions that are a part of your daily life threading through these minutes and hours of stitching.

When you look back at a finished piece years from now, it will remind you of these moments in your current life. You’ll see it and recall time spent stitching on the porch while your kids played nearby or your roommate washed the car or your neighbors stopped by as they walked their dog. Or maybe you’ll recall time spent tucked away from everyone lost in stitches. Or maybe you’ll recall the flight you were on while you stitched. And along with those specifics of setting, there’s a good chance you’ll recall the circumstances and stories of life at that time.

As I was stitching Vintage Truck, it was summer 2020, a summer when we were covid 19 quarantine, a time when I saw more of my 20-something children than I’d ever expected as their movements were limited, a time when I made a quick and careful trip to visit my mom…and happened on a blue truck that looked a lot like the one in my stitching project.

From Rogues’ Gallery.

This woodland gallery puts fox and rabbit, bear, deer and owl all above a shared mantle. As you stitch, think on the portrait galleries you could assemble from your own life. Family or close friends are obvious selections, but what are the unexpected communities you’ve been a part of? Your bookclub members? The online video gamers you talk to every night? Neighbors? Teammates? Who would you collect? And what setting would reflect this group’s connection?